


The Unshaken

by Azaffranist



Category: Frozen (2013)
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Gen, Magic, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-10-02 15:01:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17266340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azaffranist/pseuds/Azaffranist
Summary: Arendelle. The Great Thaw marked the beginning of a peaceful time for the rising mountain kingdom. With an alliance underway and a stable relationship with neighboring lands, things were pretty great for the monarchs and their people. But the disappearance of one of the kingdom's trustiest leaders, Captain Rossing, leaves many questions behind. It's not at simple as it seems; royal secrets spill and ancient enemies rise, whose sole intent is to destroy the kingdom. There's more to being a Snow Queen than Elsa was aware of, and it involves great danger.





	1. I

**C H A P T E R   1**

“Guess it’s showoff time.”

The pale blonde’s steps on the crystal floor beneath her feet echoed as she approached the blinding light ahead. She looked back over her shoulder for one last time, as if to make sure she was finally alone, but deep down she knew that would never be possible. She gulped one time. Twice. And after a third she pulled herself together and walked up the stairs.

She had to cover her vision yet again. Those ocean blue eyes couldn’t do it for themselves. The undying sunlight from outside hit the high pyramidal ceiling with the strength of a thousand race horses, for it to be then reflected onto the three thrones. Hers was the first, marked with an elegant snowflake the size of a plate on the top. As it was  _born of cold and winter air…_

“No,” she muttered to herself, closing her eyes. “That’s not it.”

Tripping over her own thoughts, she found herself in doubt yet again. Then it felt like a slap on the face; only that because of her insensitivity to external pain she opened her eyes again without uttering a sound, and her expression returned to the usual neutral, hiding an entire war inside.

She shivered, similar to a damsel dressed in a summer dress in the middle of one of those especially devastating winter winds. She sat on the throne, slowly letting her arms loose on both sides. She breathed in, breathed out. And then it was done. It couldn’t be undone. The memorized words eagerly came out of her mouth as if they had their own mind before she could even reason.

“Ih vasaat lit sid, xalfetekam.”

And the pain began.

Shooting up her limbs, stiffening her muscles; she remained as still as a rock, but not as senseless. She did have senses. She just tried to ignore them most times. And so it quickly left her gritting her teeth, yet still unspoken.

But then it became worse. With the pain creeping up her vertebrae, she bit back a grunt. And from the spine, the so beloved base of every human’s form, it grew into her ribs, making bone after bone ache. This particularly maddening hurt left her gasping against the seat, closing her eyes shut and tightening her hands’ grasp to the armrests. But she knew the worse was yet to come, and the sole thought made her eyebrows frown in discomfort.

It soon stabbed her chest, and she thrashed in unexplainable pain. Tapping the armrests with her hands clasped in fists, she howled, shrinking back in the throne, reducing herself to nothing more than a struggling hunched figure in the middle of a forgotten monument.

But she knew she was  _born of cold and winter air, and mountain rain combining_. But they hadn’t chosen her, they hadn’t deemed her worthy; she wasn’t good enough to hold that place. But why? Why? Hadn’t she got the skill and body to keep up with them?

Something told her she was missing the soul. And faster than she would have preferred the thought dissipated and she was left with despair.

Her whole body fell to the floor with a thud after failing to support herself. The pale blonde with ocean blue eyes managed to get on her knees, only for her head to descend back and her jaw tighten as she coughed, and coughed, as if her lungs were to get out of her body, but instead it was only blood what came out. Only blood. And dripping down her chin, it stained the crystal floor, and the sun above made her hair look the color of a sunflower.

Then she blinked, and heard the shattering of glass. Seconds after, that swordstaff was lying on the floor just in front of her face. A blade made out of solid blue glass; its heavily ornamented figure was formed with elegant, sharp spikes in different directions resembling the shape of an S, glittering like magical snow in a tranquil night.

So then the pain subsided, little by little, and her trembling hand approached the ancient weapon.

“I… did it.”

And she held the blade close.

_Born of cold…_

“I’m not. I am not,” she said with a shaky breath, flexing her legs and closing her eyes. “I’m the First Guardian now.”

Maybe she wasn’t beautiful, powerful, dangerous, or cold.

But she was the First Guardian.

A killing machine.

/ / /

“Anna!”

Her head shot upward, making its way through the thick covers. Something was wrong. Something was seriously wrong. How come she was being woken up?

“I’m up, I’m up, I’m going, Ger—Wait, what?” After rubbing her eyes, that blurry figure in front of her slowly took the shape of her regal sister regally dressed leaning against her bedroom’s wall with her arms crossed. And a few moments after, her vision regained its full potential and noticed that glare—that loved and killed at the same time—which seemed far too familiar.

“Anna.” Her sister got closer to the bed and put a hand on her shoulder with an unamused look. “You have to get up.” Luckily, the voice stayed soft, and full of love, as always.

“I’m forgetting something, am I?” the redhead said as she put a hand under her chin, trying to think. Before she could realize it, her eyes closed yet again. But a hand on her cheek made her regain consciousness immediately. Something was up. Something was…  _seriously up_? Whatever. She was lost; she got lost in so many dreams and nightmares with reindeers and yellow fluffy ducks. The nightmares with ducks were definitely the scariest, because it was so weird to see tiny cute ducks with terrible demon wings and…

“ _Anna._ ”

This time it wasn’t so soft.

“Oh, Elsa, of course! The alliance!” she spat after noticing her sister’s special attire. By special, it meant she wasn’t wearing predominantly any shade of blue, of course. That one day her dress was dark green with little details in light blue across the front. She also had one of those majestic purple capes she seemed to adore so much.  “Sorry! I’m so sorry! Totally forgot about it. I’m gonna get dressed in a pinch. Don’t worry,” she said with a nervous smile as she tried to remove her sleepy limbs from under the bedsheets. Maybe her sister realized what a hard time she was having performing such a simple activity, because she giggled and nudged her gently.

“Actually, the alliance is tomorrow, so I pretty much know you didn’t pay attention to what I told you,” her sister said with  _that_ annoying teasing tone as she got up from the edge of the bed and approached the door handle. “Get dressed nicely, Anna. I’ll tell you everyone’s names for you to memorize at breakfast. See you later!” And she disappeared in a purple blur.

_Breakfast?_

She eyed the wooden tall clock.

Seven and a half in the morning.

“What a stinker!”

“I heard that! I know I am.”

Oh, how badly she had missed those times of aggressive-passive sisterly bond.

/ / /

Things were fairly great in Arendelle, Anna liked to think. She also had liked to think she was great at chess, thanks to her hours of playing with paintings—which sadly didn’t have a mind of their own, so she had to challenge herself with new ways of defeating  _herself_ —but once the Queen found time to play a match, the princess’ will and self-esteem was broken in half. Little did she know Princess Elsa was also a lone player. She still considered a mistake to have played shortly after the Great Thaw, when things were still a bit shaky, because Elsa destroyed her at that game and soon started to feel guilty. Yeah, that was a mistake.

But apart from that? Economy was great. Probably. Why would they make an alliance with Arendelle, then? To be honest with herself, Anna didn’t think she was an adept economist, even though Elsa did everything in her power to teach her the ways of the bald, short old men. Also known as accountants. Luckily, she met three or four times a week with Kristoff and Sven to distract herself from princess-ly duties and bald, short old men. Olaf also got in the way. He always changed the topic to summer, though.

But she never got enough of her dear sister. Be it snow fights, garden walks, kingdom sightseeing or book discussions—they loved to do those in cold nights—Anna enjoyed every single moment she spent with her favorite platinum haired relative. Those days of solitude, of striding around the halls with no one other than armor sets; they seemed distant already, but still present in her memories, like an unwanted nightmare.

Sometimes she walked past those aisles and stopped for a moment there; visualizing that red-haired, two-braided girl helplessly waiting for an answer behind a white wooden door. And she stared, and stared, at the nothingness itself, for five, for ten seconds even; but after a moment she would shake her head and wave goodbye to that tiny figure. Then she’d approach Elsa and talk about little animals, and how beautiful winter was.

/ / /

“Why did you wake me up so  _early_?” the redhead princess asked as she sat down, putting a hand under her chin to support her head, fighting for her eyes to stay open as she yawned ungraciously.

Breakfast was minutes away. The table was already equipped with empty, shining white plates, and the smell of the delicious melted chocolate sauce was already driving her crazy. You could’ve said it was the very only thing keeping her awake at such an untimely moment. It was better for those cooks to hurry up, because her consciousness wouldn’t last for long.

Her sister remained unshaken towards her goofy behavior, but Anna could’ve sworn she saw a tiny smile behind that fake serious expression. “It was a necessary evil. Today, the Prince, King and authorities of the kingdom of Ewigglanz will be coming as representatives to form a commercial alliance with Arendelle. Tomorrow, though, will be the official ceremony in the Gardens.”

“The kingdom of Evig… what?”

“Ewigglanz,  _Anna_. It’s German, and I predict you’ll have to practice to get it right.” And she stared at the table with a thoughtful gaze, and suddenly all that anticipation made more sense for Anna.

“So, basically, these are the guys that are going to supplant the Weaseltown thugs, right?”

The maids gave her a nervous look, but she didn’t care. What else than thugs would they be called? Weasels? Cute looking mammals? That duke didn’t give her a good first impression the first time they met, that time she had to share a dance with him because of her sister’s strange inability to move her feet accordingly to the rhythm of music. At first Anna had thought he was just a little weird man trying to achieve trust and moneys, but things escalated  _really_ quickly and from the moment he called her sister a monster and insults alike she wouldn’t be able to think about him without a flame of anger building up inside of her.

“You could say they are,” Elsa said. “We are in need of another solid trade partner, and the Ewigers are the perfect match. Safe and quick maritime travel through the North Sea; resources arriving in less than a month. Just what Arendelle needed,” she said with a satisfied wink as she approached a cup of hot chocolate from a metallic tray the cooks had just left on the table. Grabbing it with her left hand, as always Anna happened to notice, she added before sipping: “They’ve got great chocolate, too.”

“I’m in, then!” the princess exclaimed, and they both giggled. “So what did you want me to memorize?”

“Oh.” And the queen’s expression blanked a little as she searched on an adjacent table. “Here it is. The dignitaries’ names and some information; only the ones we are going to address at the first meeting,” and Anna received a rolled piece of paper from her sister’s warmed hands. She was the only human being Anna knew to date to drink hot chocolate in the middle of a pleasurable summer.

She unrolled the strange parchment and her jaw dropped.

“I wrote them down for you.”

/ / /

“Elsa, this is a lot of people!” Anna couldn’t take it. These weird names in German, one after another written with perfect calligraphy, of presumably old bald men… How was she going to learn them? She wasn’t! Okay, maybe she needed to. She was awkward enough in her simple talk; add forgetting names to the mix and she would be dubbed the hollowest princess of Europe. “When are they coming?”

“In a couple of hours. I’m sorry; I should’ve given them to you yesterday, because I received it yesterday morning from the advisors. I was a bit too caught up with the meetings…” And her expression was out of sudden filled with that guilt Anna knew too well.

“Oh, Elsa. Worry not. I have great memory.”

“You do?”

Did she?

Anna smiled nervously, but nodded vigorously.

/ / /

“Gosh — How do they even manage to say this thing?” she said with her mouth full of chocolate pancakes as she pointed to a name in the list.

“That’s… Ulz Berchtwald,” her sister pronounced as she sat beside her. “Their minister of economy.”

“How do you even  _know_  German?”

“I saw some when I was little, but I’ve since forgotten,” Elsa explained, clasping her hands. “The pronunciation got imprinted onto my soul, though.”

That last hour had been tough. Gulping down pancakes as she simultaneously read names and processed information wasn’t being an easy task, but she had already gotten most of them nailed. Had she? She wasn’t sure, to be frank, but she was born ready. She was even born ready to jump off a cliff and dive feetfirst into the snow. But it was her first meeting with dignitaries from overseas; most times she had accompanied the queen in navy update meetings—yes, those were a thing—or heard a thing or two from the Army General, but that was about it. Whatever, she liked to think; it wasn’t going to be that hard, right?

“I think I got ‘em,” she announced after a couple of minutes, grabbing that last piece of pancake and stuffing it into her mouth. “Wasn’t that hard. Definitely.” Then she patted her sister’s stiff back and smiled reassuringly.

Wait.

Stiff back?

“Are you okay, Elsa?” Anna made sure to ask, her voice failing in hiding her concern.

The queen seemed to jump at the comment, apparently correcting her blank expression and regaining the regal look she had managed to develop. “Just a bit nervous,” she said, the words coming fast out of her mouth. “Nothing else.” And she replied with that same reassuring smile Anna had given her earlier, only that the redhead knew it was fake, but no one else. One of the few, if not the  _only_  feature she disliked with passion about her sister. An ability she had mastered, useful for those meetings with old bald men; but completely distasteful for a chat with your little sister.

“You’re gonna do great, Elsa! Believe my sixth-sense-sister-senses. They never, ever, fail, and if they do, it’s because I couldn’t express them the right way.” What was she saying? She didn’t know herself, but she knew Elsa liked to listen to her ramble irrationally because she found it funny.

Elsa nodded briefly and grabbed the hot chocolate cup. To warm her hands, maybe? On a summer day? It was something that only anxious snow queens do. Or maybe only Elsa. “I know. The nerves get to me a little. You know  _me_ , after all.” And she lowered her head just a bit, staring at something, but Anna couldn’t figure out what. Her heart ached a little every time that happened; every time Elsa’s saw beyond what she could see. Or maybe just lost focus. She tried not to be very dramatic.

“I know more about you than you do yourself, Elsa.” Anna put a hand on her shoulder, looking at her with love, a cure she knew always healed. Elsa replied wordlessly after blinking a couple of times and smiled to her with even more love, a simple and pure gesture that always meant ‘thank you’; but seconds after something seemed to snap and provoked a raised eyebrow in her sister’s face.

“Whoa. Hang on, there. What do you think you are?” The redhead exhaled silently, because her sister’s stinker side was at it again, which was definitely a good sign. “Did you know that I  _love_ being bossy?” she said with a smirk as she stood up.

“Well… It’s pretty notorious, I’d say,” Anna replied as she stood up with her. “But did you know that you snore  _pretty_ heavily?”

This was it. The perfect comeback! Would Anna be able to win the daily teasing battle, just  _once?_

“Huh? What about it?  _What for it_?”

But her sister didn’t even stutter.

“Actually, I did know,” the queen of wolfish smirks said as she exited the room.

Oh, man. How ready she was for this parade of old bald men.

/ / /

“General Hensarme,” her sister acknowledged in front of her.

Oh. The aisles they were transiting were crowded; there were twice the amount of servants than most days, the guards walked from here to there all the time—what the hell were they doing in the first place?—and Anna was constantly able to catch a glimpse of many familiar faces. They were then ahead of Alexander Hensarme: a tall and thirty-something man who sported dark brown hair wearing Arendellian colors on his suit and military hat. He always looked dead on the inside and outside, though. The wrinkles and tired eyes came a lot sooner than they should have for him. Poor man. Maybe he couldn’t sleep at night, Anna used to think.

“Your Majesty, your Highness,” he greeted with a respectful bow and a firm voice. “It is with satisfaction that I meet you both here. May I ask you whether you are heading for the reunion to be held with Admiral Myklebust and Captain Rossing?”

“We are, precisely,” Elsa answered with a nod. “We will arrive there in just a few minutes.”

Anna knew Myklebust and Rossing pretty well; at least she had them nailed by sight. The leaders of Arendelle’s Navy and Guard Force, respectively; they didn’t look nearly as half as dead as Hensarme did, fortunately, even though they were decades older. Her first memories of them go back as far as her father’s reign, seeing them go around in the halls, while she waited for a door to be opened. The oldest, Osvald Rossing, was the one Anna remembered to be especially kind to her. One time, he gifted the princess with one of those tall and heavy guard hats. It didn’t end well, of course, because the little redhead couldn’t keep herself from putting it onto her head and screaming orders at everyone, but Anna kept the memory close to her heart.

“Fantastic. I will see you there.” And with another bow, the man walked past them and dissipated into the crowd as fast as he had appeared.

“Wasn’t this a  _commercial_  alliance?” Anna asked as they walked. Fortunately, they didn’t need to avoid anyone; the people made way for them. Or more like for Elsa, who everyone seemed to adore and fear at the same time, a strange combination to happen. “Why are Myklebust and Rossing there if we will just discuss money?”

“Every authority will be present,” the queen explained, placing her hands behind her back. “And, you know, I just hope I don’t get too angry or anything, because the temperature drops are…” she looked at her hands with a sarcastic smile, “…Noticeable.”

“So that’s why you were nervous.”

Elsa gave her that one look. Yes, the ‘you-caught-me’ one. Then she looked away for a second, and Anna could predict her face reddened. “I just don’t want to mess up, that’s all.” And then a nervous giggle. They were rare in Elsa’s habits. But every time that happened, it reminded her of Olaf.

“I get it, sis. Just relax.”

“I am perfectly relaxed.”

“Great.”

“It sure is great.”

“Let’s go already,” Anna said as she grabbed her hand with excitement radiating from her face. “They’re gonna say we’re un-punc-tu-al!”

/ / /

Some footsteps caused her eyes to flutter open in restless attention. She couldn’t afford to lose the weapon at this point, no; not because she was sprawled down breathing heavily in a puddle of her own coughed blood. But her heart calmed down and her heartbeat slowed as she saw that short, hooded figure approach her, not without a heavy limp on her right leg that reminded the pale woman of just how much that child had lost. It looked almost painful, even, how her right arm remained uncomfortably motionless in the act of running; in those moments she wanted to look away and forget everything that happened for good.

“Hey! A-Are you okay, Laure?” the child said, now kneeling beside her.

The blonde looked up and saw those eyes again. “I’m okay… yes. Long time no see,” she muttered after a sigh of relief. “You shouldn’t have run.”

“What… What happened to you?” The child seemed to choose to play deaf. She eyed the blood, her furrowed brow and startled eyes displaying her uneasiness, and put a hand over the blonde’s shoulder, but little it did to reduce the pain the woman was going through.

“The Pact of Blood was a bit rough on me,” she explained, her voice coming out like weak squeaks when she attempted to use it on a louder tone. “But… I’m okay. I’m feeling better already.”

“At least—At least let me help you sit up, okay?” the girl said as she held the woman’s shoulders and gently raised them up, until the blonde’s back was straight against the throne’s legs. The woman breathed heavily, almost panting, and after seconds of thoughtful doubt, she finally let her head fall onto the child’s side, breathing in and breathing out, finally with ease, but never letting go of the ornamented blade she was holding dearly on her left hand. It was too costly, to ever get her fingers off of it.

“Thank you,” the blonde said, closing her eyes yet again. “My muscles appreciate your help,” she added in a whisper.

“I’m so sorry you had to go through this,” the girl said, keeping an arm below the blonde. “You must be—You must be in so much pain,” she said, and her voice sounded as if it paled out of sudden. “Can I—Can I help you?”

“Don’t worry about me,” the woman said softly. “Worry about yourself. I told you, you mustn’t run.”

“But Laure, I saw you there in the middle of a  _puddle of_ —”

“I’m the one who should be holding you right now,” she cut off, her tongue as sharp as a knife, and her sea blue eyes adopting the looks of a frozen ocean. The child’s voice halted to a stop as if it had never existed in the first place, and the woman gulped with guilt shooting through her chest, but managed to keep on a serious expression. “You’re limping even more, Auguste,” she added, paying close attention to her voice’s tone, making sure it sounded as  _delicate and soft_ as possible after such a snarly remark.

“Am I?”

“Yes, you are.” The woman slowly straightened her back further with her teeth clenched, in order to gingerly lower the child’s hood, revealing light brown hair, and take a look at that gruesome injury covered with a headband. When she saw the tiny stains of blood still plaguing the cloth, she was reminded of that event all over again. That thud and that scream still roamed her worst nightmares; the seemingly endless sleep the child had fallen into. The awakening was bittersweet, though; she woke up in so much  _pain_ , only to try to stand up hours after and failing. It wasn’t until a couple of days that the child was finally able to concatenate words to form actual  _sentences_ and the right side of her body started to respond a bit more.

“I’m—I’m okay. Really. Don’t worry,” the girl said, removing the elder’s hand and raising her tunic’s hood. “I didn’t come all the way up here for you to play doctor with me,” she added with a tiny smirk. “You—You rest, now.”

The blonde shook her head with her brow furrowed. “There are things I must do.” And grabbing the throne’s armrests, she raised her body in order to stand up, supported against her will by the child’s hands under her shoulders. This simple action left her panting for air, but after a few seconds of leaning onto her weapon with her back slouched, she managed to elevate her head and talk. “Let’s catch my not-so-pale  _chosen_  twin for once, and end all of this nonsense.”

And so the Second Guardian, that brain-damaged kid, and the First Guardian, that  other pain-ridden woman, limped their way out of the crystal castle to hunt the Trinity.

/ / /

That was one  _big_ table.

What else could she be thinking about? Anna had never attended a meeting in that room. It was the International Meetings Room—her sister seemed to have a pretty low skill for choosing interesting names—and it was downright  _huge_. With its beige walls with red-patterned high plinths and decorated with painting depicting beautiful works of art, Arendelle had nothing to envy to those larger kingdoms. Arendelle was fancier than all of them.

She was sitting right next to the Queen, whose posture Anna reminded herself to try to imitate at all times. Elsa was at the moment rummaging some papers in a box, apparently getting them ready for the  _big_ meeting to be held in mere hours, but it seemed like she wasn’t finding the right ones, something Anna could tell from looking at her sister’s  _especially_ cold expression. Some minutes after, though, she salvaged them from the sea of documents and put them on the table. The queen sighed in relief, and looked with an unreadable expression at the tall clock in the room. It was already late, Anna thought, wasn’t it?

But their temporary silence was interrupted when the duo of men scurried through the door and bowed briefly.

“Your Majesty, Your Highness,” Hensarme said, evidently out of breath, followed by Joakim Myklebust. “There is a…  _problem_.”

“What happened?” Elsa asked, her voice as indecipherable as her face.

“Captain Rossing is nowhere to be found.”


	2. II

"What?"

The queen wasn't fond of last-time incidentals, and the expression of her face made it  _very_ clear for everyone. Even Anna, who was sadly used to these imbalances in the blonde's mood, seemed to shake before her cold eyes and tightened jaw.

"When was he last seen?" she asked, her brow furrowing in concern.

"Yesterday morning, we suppose," Hensarme answered, rubbing his forehead.

"We have looked for him everywhere," Admiral Myklebust added, getting strands of blond, shoulder-length hair off his face. "We have sent a messenger to his house, of course, but I do not think we would be getting an answer anytime soon, Your Majesty." He twirled his hair a bit, then probably realized he was in front of the Queen, and immediately stopped as if it had never happened.

Before she could even reason, both men led their gaze towards her. "What should we do?" Hensarme asked, his countenance keeping that usual deathly stare. It wasn't challenging nor defiant; just deeply wise, Elsa knew. Myklebust, on the other hand, seemed more confused than anything.

The leader of Arendelle's guard force, Rossing, wasn't anywhere. There was going to be an international meeting in the next hours, which by no means could be postponed. They had matters to discuss  _now_ , not later.

What could've happened with him? The worst scenarios already played in her mind, one after another, like flashing images. She looked up to the ceiling with her brow furrowed, but nodded to herself after a couple of seconds. Maybe the man had his wife sick or something in the likes of it. Even as punctual as he was, Elsa knew Rossing was a bit too caught up on his own world. "We cannot let this postpone the alliance," she said. "The alliance will take place on the already agreed time."

"All… All right, Your Majesty." Myklebust nodded with respect.

"Sit down, please," the queen said, "and let the meeting start."

While the men sat down, she looked over her shoulder to see a stiff, standing Anna.

"Anna," she muttered under gritted teeth.

"Wha—"

"You too."

"Oh. Ah. All right. Coming."

/ / /

Gathering all the documents sitting on her lap and over the table, she started updating both men on the people they would be meeting and what they have already discussed by letters. Anna seemed to be just there, listening somewhat attentively to what Elsa was saying—at least she looked like she was—but the blonde wished in the depths of her heart nothing un-princess-ly would come out of her mouth. Elsa and her trusty advisors sometimes had heated discussions, and she knew it was a certified Anna Instinct to jump and defend her would the words of the men not please her ears.

"According to a few reports I have been sent by Kai, the Ewigglanz royalty will arrive by today's late afternoon with their military leaders, mayors and minister of economy," Elsa continued. "As I have already informed you, most economical matters regarding the new trade route have already been discussed by letters. The topic untouched, though, is still the situation in case of political conflict."

Elsa saw Anna turn her head sharply to her side through the corner of her eye.

"War," the grim Hensarme muttered.

"Yes. And that is the reason I brought you here, gentlemen," she explained. "It is agreed that the 'price' for this alliance is military backup on both sides, but we have not sorted out exactly how. I would want to know what your points of view on this are."

"Thank you for giving us that opportunity, Your Majesty," Hensarme said while peeking through the pages of a big, fat book. "Taking into account that both our countries have a similar size in their armies, I would suggest offering financial support in case of war, not exceeding the ten percent of our annual budget for military matters."

Elsa nodded and wrote it down, pen in left hand. "That is a reasonable offer."

"May I ask a question, Your Majesty?" Myklebust raised his head from his vision being stuck on a paper. "And I will say it with all due respect."

Elsa raised an eyebrow internally, but she had learnt to keep that cold stone face in meetings. She had never seen a case of such anticipation for a question, so she nodded and braced herself to what could come. Myklebust wasn't very subtle most times. "Say."

"What do they think about… magic?"

She sighed internally but didn't do it in real life. She was getting really good at getting her face frozen. "It is not something that has been  _discussed_ , but I dare say, if they are making an alliance with  _Arendelle out of all of northern Europe_ , they must be considerably comfortable with it."

"Well, fair enough." He toyed with his hair a bit, his eyes displaying nervousness. "I wanted to make sure the people of Ewigglanz would be accepting of the alliance and what it means to them. Because now  _that_ … could bring trouble…"

Elsa looked at him with dead eyes.

"Shut up," she heard Hensarme mutter to Myklebust. Myklebust only looked down with a look of regret.

"Admiral Myklebust, I know the consequences that could come of this. I think it is only  _logical_ to think that some Ewigers, if not a lot, are going to disagree with this alliance because of my magic. I know that. I have it clear. But I do not think it will be a problem big enough for our alliance to break or to cause some kind of sociopolitical outrage ending up in war."

"Yes, yes, I understand, Your Majesty, but—"

"El—uh,  _Queen_  Elsa now has a perfect control of her powers," Anna said, her face seemingly failing to hide her building anger. "Or are you doubting her ability,  _Admiral Myklebust_?"

The tone in her sister's voice was dangerously mocking. Elsa somehow sweated—even in winter—before every meeting with Anna sitting on the table because she knew that girl had  _no limits_. Fortunately or unfortunately, that kind of situation hadn't happened before, so Elsa wasn't ready. She didn't want another argument in the meeting room. They were enough already.

"I am not, Your Highness! I would never—"

Elsa saw Anna open her mouth. She was a train with no brakes.

" _She_ would never harm someone! Don't you trust her, or are you too—"

Elsa kicked her sister's foot from under the table. She earned a mean look, but the danger had been neutralized.

"I know you all trust me. There is no need to argue, yes?" She eyed Anna, but the girl seemed to be under control. "Let the admiral speak. What is it that you wanted to say, Admiral Myklebust?"

"It is just that…" He touched the paper beneath his fingers. And then, silence.

Anna was staring at him and she made no effort pretending not to.

"What?" Elsa asked slowly. She was getting a bit impatient and that was an understatement. This man was hiding something, she was not stupid; but she did not want to push the argument further a few hours away from an international meeting. Better solve their matters once the alliance was over, right? It wouldn't be nice to spend the whole next night with an uncomfortable silence towards her advisors. Magic was weird enough to create an atmosphere of Anna-level-awkwardness and it was not something she could get rid of, Elsa reasoned.

"Nothing, Your Majesty," he said after a pause, a nervous half-baked smile on his face as he rolled up the paper he was looking at. "I just… I am just a bit nervous, that is all. After all that has happened with Weselton and such. I am sorry if this caused any kind of inconvenience to you, Your Majesty."

"It did not. Any more matters you would like to discuss?"

"Not on my part, Your Majesty," Hensarme said, his face stern.

"I think that would be all." Myklebust straightened his uniform.

"Good, then. You are dismissed."

/ / /

"What the hell was  _that_ , Elsa?" Anna said after a groan as soon as the uniformed men left the room.

"What?" the queen said with a raised eyebrow, keeping her vision on her sister as she organized the lengthy documents on top of the table.

"Your… your kick!"

Elsa couldn't help but laugh. She stood up, walking to a nearby shelf to leave the pile of papers onto it. "I see you didn't know. You were… getting too far. Sorry if it hurt."

"I am your beloved sister, Elsa! Why would you do that  _to me_?" Anna said dramatically, throwing her arms in the air with an indignant look.

"It's nothing personal, I swear. We do it all the time." She walked back to the table, sitting beside her sister and giving her a gentle slap on the back.

Now it seemed to be Anna's turn to laugh. "Seriously?"

"Yes. It has prevented many, many violent arguments."

"Have  _you_  been kicked?"

"Actually, no."

The queen heard Anna mutter "what a stinker" to herself with an unamused look, to which Elsa silently responded with a smirk, but the princess seemed to be quick to come back to the conversation. "Did you see that Mykle guy? He was looking at the paper like crazy. Most importantly, he didn't even leave it here, he outright  _took it with him_!"

"I know, Anna. We can spend entire evenings looking at papers… But I get where you're coming from," Elsa said, rubbing her arm thoughtfully. She knew Myklebust was a nervous man, but the way he acted in that meeting was by no means usual.

"He's hiding something, Elsa, and you know it."

The queen nodded and looked up. "Yes, I know. But I don't want to pressure him to say the truth just yet."

"Why not? You need to know what he's up to." Anna crossed her arms, her semblance serious. "For all you know, he could be hiding something  _important,_  and that's not what one would expect from someone who  _swore_  allegiance to Arendelle."

"Don't jump to conclusions," the blonde said, her voice firm. "I know this man is trustful. Our father chose him when I was ten or so. So don't start accusing him of things he isn't. Please."

"Oh." Anna scratched her head and looked down a bit.

Elsa had always looked up to her parents, but after their death, she almost fearfully started to question their decisions regarding her powers. She learnt to forgive them later, after death, because she knew the damage they inflicted was in no way conscious; and while their image was not untouched, she would always say yes in a heartbeat to a kiss from her mother or a hug from her father. Even now, sometimes she would go to the library to take a look at the firm, elegant ruler that came before her: King Adgar, and ask him silent questions of advice.

"I'm sorry. I… I didn't know Papa had chosen him."

"Don't worry, Anna. I know you didn't."

There was a heavy silence—Elsa knew Anna didn't like to discuss that topic too much because of  _that_ terrible day the youngest princess had to deal with all on her own—but Anna broke it some moments after. "Still, I got a bad feeling about this. It's got something to do with your magic, I'm sure. That's why he brought up the topic that way."

The queen stood up and straightened her dress. "He was trying to say something, but probably decided not to. I don't think it's that important, really. Let's get going already. We don't wanna spend the whole morning here, do we?"

"We don't."

Elsa left the room with her favorite sister by her side.

/ / /

"So," the queen started, walking through the crowded aisles. "When is Kristoff coming?"

"Kristoff?" Anna tilted her head. "Why… uh…  _why Kristoff_?"

"Well, I forgot to tell you." Elsa grabbed her sister's hand and smirked. "You both were intending to ask me for my blessing of your engagement. Am I right?"

Anna stopped walking, her face almost nearly as nervous as Myklebust's—or as Anna had dubbed him:  _Mykleguy_ —and looked at Elsa in the eyes. "…Yes? _Howdoyouknowthat?_ " The feisty princess put a few strands of hair in their place, keeping her eyes fixed on her sister's, and Elsa just giggled. Oh, boy. What a surprise she was in for.

"Because Kristoff asked  _me_ to start dating  _you._ "

The blond man, Elsa remembered, had come one evening to the gardens rubbing the back of his neck. The queen somehow anticipated the topic of his question before he could even get his words together coming out of his mouth as adequate sentences—it was noticeably hard getting them out. As tough as the mountain guy had proved himself to be, every expedition to the deadly frozen fjords paled in comparison to the task he put his mind on doing.  _Asking the Queen of Arendelle_ —who also happened to be the Ice Queen, by the way— _for her permission to court her sister._ Elsa just put on a goofy smile every time she remembered that event, because it made it clear that Kristoff was the bestest—and bravest—boyfriend that the Princess of Arendelle could find.

"Oh my…" Anna put a hand over her mouth, looking as if she was about to run away. "That must've been so awkward, wasn't it?" she quickly muttered, concern raining all over her face.

"It was," Elsa said while grinning. "But I said yes."

"Y-yes?" Anna's voice came out in squeaks. "Oh my God, Elsa! You're, like, the  _best_ sister-in-law ever!" Before Elsa could react, a redhead was making her suffocate under a tight hug and Elsa noticed the castle servants were quick to eye what was probably looking like an attempt at regicide. "Kristoff… He didn't tell me anything! What a stinker!" she said, never letting go of the queen.

"We both agreed to keep it secret until I told you," Elsa said, her voice always so soft, breaking up the hug a little to better look at her dear sister's eyes shining with excitement. "It wasn't a difficult decision. Kristoff's backbone to ask me  _himself_ made my response as easy as an instinct."

"Thank you, Elsa." The words came out of her mouth with such and love, that the queen could do nothing but keep smiling.

"I know you two adore each other, so enjoy your time together."

Ah, the parallels. The queen remembered that night the princess had come to her all laughter and smiles to ask for the blessing of the  _marriage_ to some random redhead she had just met that day. Elsa liked teasing, of course, but speaking about Hans was just taking it too far for the both of them. That man who left her sister to die of cold in a locked room; that man who almost sliced the back of the queen in two if it wasn't for a selfless sacrifice from the person who had loved her the most, her own sister.

She was a few inches away from dying, she knew it. The bleeding led by a giant slash on her back would've been far too deadly to handle. Anna once questioned why her sister hadn't done anything to run, to flee, to escape from a man with an unsheathed sword ready to make her bleed to death. Elsa didn't respond because she had no answer. She could've lied—She could've told Anna she didn't hear the sword. But she did, and so  _clearly_ , it resonated whenever her mind was blank. That time, after hearing her sister was dead and that it was  _her fault_ ; that time onwards, she felt nothing but a deafening silent pain eating her from inside out, and she became just another motionless snowflake in the eye of the storm.

Anna just hugged her that time. Maybe she had figured out what her intentions were. Elsa didn't even want to know, but the hug felt good.

"We're going to spend so much time picnicking now that it's  _official_!" Anna exclaimed, moving her arms up and down looking like she overdose on chocolate. "But of course— _you_ —are gonna be there, too," she added with a wide smile.

"Well, if I'm not a hassle…"

"Hassle? Kristoff's the hugest fan of your magic!"

"Oh, yeah?"

"Elsa— _this man_ —He almost cried when he saw your castle."

"Wow. That's saying something."

They both started walking down the spiral stairs.

"I didn't quite finish what I wanted to tell you," Elsa said. "You're both  _officially_ engaged now."

"Yes!"

"That means Kristoff has to come to this afternoon's first meeting to formally present himself to the Ewigers. And, of course, come to tomorrow's party."

"Wait, what?"

"I think I've heard from you Kristoff doesn't like parties very much, right?"

"He—well—He  _despises_ them," Anna said with a nervous look. "It's almost funny—you know—because I  _love_ parties. Ah, still, we're  _made_ for each other!"

"I hate parties too."

"Well, that sucks."

"At least I made sure there would be chocolate and carrot snacks, so I think Kristoff and I should be safe."

They giggled in unison.

/ / /

"Your Majesty, Your Highness?" the guard before them bowed.

"Could you please look for Master Kristoff? Tell him we need him to come to the castle," Anna said.

"Right away, Your Highness." The guard soon disappeared through the crowd of servants with a quick stride.

As much as Kristoff had liked to object in the past, Official Arendelle Ice Master and Deliverer wasn't a title she made up. The ice business was vital to Arendelle's economy and Ice Masters had been around since her great-grandfather's time, acting as coordinators and overseers of the whole harvesting around the land. It wasn't really necessary in his new position, but Kristoff somehow still enjoyed cutting ice. Elsa had great respect for the man's hardworking attitude, and especially for the way he treated Anna.

It was nearing lunchtime already, and both royals were heading for the castle's kitchen. The meeting with the military leaders had turned out to be a bit more chaotic than expected, but so far, nothing had gone  _that_ wrong. Spending time with her sister was something Elsa would never deny. She always learned something new. Anna's outings with Kristoff to the mountains were always interesting and the princess told them with such emphasis and emotion that they soon became a laughter fuel after long days of paperwork. Their walks to the gardens were something worth noting as well; what better way to spend a nice evening than with the bravest and most loving person in the world.

/ / /

The mountain air was unforgiving, but at least it was summer.

Kristoff looked at the sun and patted Sven on the back. The 'clunk, clunk' of the pickaxes against the ice was still resonating with power behind them. It was too early to chant the song, though. They preferred to do it at night, under the light of the moon for her to listen. The humming wind and the singing of the summer birds would fill the silence until the descent of the sun.

"We should get going, buddy," he muttered to Sven. The reindeer just grunted and moved his head down. "I'm sorry. Today's a long day." He put the woolen hat on his head and got up. "I'll make sure to get you carrots, though."

The big mountain man turned around, facing the group of ice harvesters. They were fifteen or so; they had been working for the whole morning on that thick, ice covered lake south of Arendelle's center. While ice harvesting definitely became harder on summer, the valleys around the mountains always had their fair share of ice, and of course, the low supply allowed for better prices. "We're going to head back to the depot in ten minutes," he announced for the rest of men to hear him. "Get ready."

"Understood," the men exclaimed in a firm voice.

It was indeed going to be a long, long day. Now he spent most of his time travelling around all of Arendelle's harvesting zones; it wasn't a simple task, but he liked it either way. He had the opportunity to take in the beautiful scenery around him, especially in winter, with the formation of those famous winter wonderlands that seemed too gorgeous to be natural; it was the nature he was strangely attracted from to a very young age. Maybe it had been because of the trolls' upbringing. He didn't know. But he loved ice, just like his  _girlfriend_.

 _Girlfriend._  Kristoff leaned onto Sven with arms crossed and a goofy smile. He wasn't going to get used to the term very fast. Remembering the face full of freckles of that feisty redhead was enough to make his day. He always wondered, though, how Anna and her sister could be so different. A good different! They were winter and summer. Introversion and extraversion; the moon and the sun. But they shared the kindness and selflessness that separated them and brought them together back. As much as their interactions on their own remained awkward from time to time—maybe because there was no Anna to break the ice—Kristoff greatly appreciated Elsa's attitude. At first the blond man had been scared of even  _seeing_ Anna, the Princess of Arendelle, considering he was an orphaned ice guy who struggled every winter, but the queen's acceptance—and general disinterest—of his social background was something he would be eternally thankful of. Had it been another royal, Kristoff would've meant a thuggish peasant; a definite and firm "no" to even get close to the princess.

"Thoughtful much, huh?" The voice came from the harvesting zone, and in seconds, the man uniformed in fine leather harvester robes was in front of him. Graying brunette, big and muscular; like the majority of the ice harvesters, he looked like just another mountain man.

"Ha. Maybe," Kristoff replied with a smirk. "Hello. Do you need something, Caspar?"

"Nothing. Just wanted to tell you you've been making a hell of a good job, kid." The man patted his back. "I was getting already too old to be circling around Arendelle like crazy. You're doing well in that Ice Master business, Kristoff."

Caspar Hensarme. He was in his fifties; the man, Kristoff had learned, had held the title for more than thirty years. After Elsa had assigned him, Caspar had made sure to teach Kristoff all the quirks to the job of organizing harvests. The mountain man hadn't quit harvesting altogether, though; he still worked time to time and kept company to Kristoff with his worthy advice.

"Thanks. Thank you for helping me out, too. I was kinda lost the first day with all the maps and records…"

"Ah, it's nothing. One day you'll have to do the same with another kid, so don't get your hopes up."

Kristoff laughed. "Yeah—So… how've things been? How's Alexander?"

"My lil' brother? I don't know, man. I bet you see him more than I do. The kid's all caught up with the deals of the castle. I don't know how he manages." Caspar tutted, looking down. "I remember I told him to come to the harvest one day, for a change of pace, y'know? But he said he wouldn't endure a single night out in the cold. Same way I wouldn't endure a single night being all bossy in the army, right?"

"I wouldn't really imagine you holding his place, with all honesty, Caspar," Kristoff agreed with a smile.

"Still, we're okay. We see each other from time to time." The old man sighed. "It's not the same, though, but whatever. People change." He looked up again, and his expression changed to one more playful. "How's the deal with the princess?"

"Oh. Well, now we're…" How was it that Elsa had said? " _…officially_ engaged," he said with a wink and a slight nod.

"Whoa, really? Way to go, man. I knew that was the right girl for you. I saw her when she was little one day when I came to visit the castle, all with the winter robes. She tried attacking me because I looked like the bad guys from the stories she read in the children's books."

Kristoff couldn't hold his laughter. Something Anna would do, definitely. "I call her feisty-pants for a reason," he said.

"And her sister tried stopping her, but it was too late! She had already gotten ahold of my feet."

They both laughed in unison. "She's really nice," Kristoff said some moments after, smiling. "I'm really lucky to have found her."

"You are. That girl's the bravest in all of Europe. I heard what happened in the Whiteout, y' know. And after that, there was no doubt. I think that—"

But they were interrupted by the sound of painful coughing. And it didn't come from mountain men, nor men.

/ / /

"What the…"

Sven grunted in surprise, but Kristoff patted his back to get him to stop making sounds. He looked around him, paying close attention to the sounds he heard. He knew quite a bit about pneumonia—they were quite common in the harvesting fields—but— _God almighty and earth trolls_ —that woman sounded as if she was  _dying._  The harvesters were quick to stop the packing of their belongings, and all of them gazed left and right with confusion on their faces.

The sounds suddenly felt more distant, as if they were being drowned by the wind itself; but they soon led him and Caspar to the ever snowy-woods nearby. "Stay here. I'll go see what happens," he told the rest of the men with urgency. "You too, buddy," he muttered to Sven, and a second later, he was already delving into the depths of the tundra trees. The snow was really thin—only a layer's worth—but it was enough for it to leave footprints.

He walked around, looking for a trace, a bit unsure about the whole situation. He could hear a couple of coughs still, but they were few and far in between. Kristoff knew the lake wasn't a nice sight. There were no routes or paths whatsoever in the surroundings. The closest village was at least a dozen of kilometers away. They were—admittedly—in the middle of nowhere, so what on Earth could a woman be doing roaming around the mountains?

He walked a few steps more, making his way through the low thick branches of the trees. The sounds had stopped altogether.

"Damn! Kristoff, come see this!" Caspar said through gritted teeth.

The blond man walked over to the elder's place, and what he was pointing at wasn't a nice sight. It was blood. Fresh blood. Not the kind of blood one would see caked in the soil from an old hunt. It was fresh blood. Kristoff frowned, but immediately looked ahead of him.

A clear path of small circles of crimson-tinted snow with a few footsteps and hand marks stood  _fresh_ on the ground.

Caspar and Kristoff looked at each other with shock for a second, but the action following needed no discussing.

They followed the traces and found a figure lying under a bush.

Who happened to be light blonde haired, and when she looked at them with pure fear from between the leaves, blue eyed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go, second chapter. Things are gonna get heated.
> 
> I'll just advise you to pay attention.
> 
> Have fun!


	3. III

"Q-Queen Elsa!" Caspar splurted out.

Kristoff blinked a few times. It was Elsa, it was  _definitely Elsa with those blue eyes and blonde braided hair,_  what the hell was she doing out there coughing like—It wasn't Elsa, no, no, no, she wasn't. How could he have mistaken the queen after having seen her so many times? But the resemblance left him frozen for a couple of seconds, because at a first glance, that woman  _was_ definitely Elsa. Getting close one could notice a different shade of blue, more  _ordinary_  looking hair, pupils the size of an ant—it was the terror maybe?—and that deathly pale skin—flour level pale, she looked sick from some degenerative illness and  _probably_ anemic—but—wow—that was Elsa and  _wasn't_ Elsa at the same time, and he was rambling in his own thoughts like Anna.

"I'm  _not_  Queen Elsa." The woman's voice came out like a squeak, and she got up with such difficulty she looked like some kind of injured soldier.

"Oh, thank goodness," Caspar muttered under his breath.

She fell back with a tiny whimper a couple of seconds after, though, which instilled the men to cut the distance between them. She coughed a bit, and it certainly was her; a thin line of blood came out of her mouth and landed on the snow.

Kristoff wasn't fond of the feeling, but he was also relieved when he realized it wasn't the beloved queen. Nevertheless, he got closer, because  _there was blood and someone had crawled all the way up there_. "Hey. Are you okay? Were you the one coughing?"

"Well, yes. But I'm… I'm okay. I just cough up blood from time to time," she said, taking in the air around her. "It comes in my family. Rough inheritance."

"You sure, miss? Don't you need help getting up?" Caspar mentioned, kneeling beside her.

"No… well… on a second thought, yes."

She had an accent, Kristoff noticed.

Caspar hovered his hands over her shoulders, but the blonde jerked away.

"Please don't touch my shoulders."

Definitely French accent. And,  _man_ , was this whole situation weird. A woman hiding behind a bush who has a French accent, looks  _just like Elsa_  from afar, asks people not to touch her shoulders while she has a strange condition of coughing violently completely unrelated to her inability to get up on her own. What on Earth was going on? Kristoff  _didn't_ touch her shoulders when helping her get up—who knows what the  _hell_  was wrong with them—he touched her arms instead, and tried to differentiate them further. This woman was more blonde than she was platinum blonde—a fact that helped him calm down a little—and yes, she was maybe a bit shorter than Elsa. She was maybe… more muscular? Or was he already making up things not to let himself confuse the both of them? But something was clear and it was a complete relief, somehow. Her skin wasn't cold to the touch. After touching the living ice berg Elsa was on a few instances and salutes, he knew what it meant to be  _touching_ the queen, even if that sentence sounded wrong on so many levels.

"Thank you," she said when she managed to get on her two feet. She seemed to be wearing greenish and bluish greys in a short dress with knee-length boots and dark blue pants. Strange. That wasn't Norwegian nor French, as far as he could tell. "I was heading for Lorenstat, actually. Seems like I got a bit lost now when I entered the woods, though."

She wasn't lying. Kristoff could hear it in her voice.

"I should get going already. Thank you, the both of you." She already made some distance between her and the ice harvesters quite quickly, but Kristoff frowned again.  _Maybe_ , maybe something was wrong—those ever-constricted pupils where unsettling—but the woman was probably afraid of strangers, which was always a good instinct to have.

"Are you sure you don't want a glass of water or anything? I can send some harvesters to take you to Lorenstat, if you want."

The woman looked behind briefly, but kept her irregular pace after a couple of seconds. "No. I know where to go. It's fine, seriously. Thank you." Her voice was cutting, and growingly distant.

"Well, you're… welcome." When Kristoff finished the sentence, the woman had already disappeared into the nothingness of the woods.

What. Just. Happened.

/ / /

"That was strange," Kristoff noted quietly while they headed back for the harvesting zone.

"The girl did lose her way, I guess. One hell of an illness, she must have. Poor lungs of her," Caspar said to himself. "Boy, I swear I thought it was the queen. You noticed because you've seen her in person many times, but,  _Holy Trinity,_  she looked just like her in my eyes."

Oh. Not again that.

"They looked alike a lot," the blond man agreed, nodding, but didn't go on to much detail.

"Must be nice, right? To be walking around the streets with everyone thinking you're  _the queen_. Would switch her place anytime."

Kristoff smirked. Nevertheless, he looked back again, thoughtful. He had a couple of questions he wouldn't be getting an answer to; why was that pale woman  _hiding_? One could argue she found herself alone in the woods with a couple of men—true, scary event—but why would she divert so much from the main route? The direction she took was the right one to Lorenstat, but… Well, Kristoff didn't even know how to back the  _but_ statement. It was his gut the one speaking and his gut seldom failed.

As soon as they were getting out of the thick woods, they were greeted with the sound of a horse neighing.

"Master Kristoff! Princess Anna is requiring your presence in the castle," the uniformed messenger said. "She sent us to look for you."

Sven looked at him with reindeer excitement.

"All right," Kristoff said, "I'm going."

/ / /

After lunch in winter, Anna would like to lie down on the library's large couch while reading some good books by the fire light. But today was a special day—of course—so she had put down that big stash of stories and spend some time with her sister. "We're going to spend the whole day with some German dudes, so why not relax for a bit before?" Elsa just chuckled and gave in. The fireplace wasn't lit—it was summer—but that was part of the reason why Anna wouldn't go to that place very often when it was hot. She almost died in front of a dead fire. The memories were unpleasant, to say the least. The mere image of that redhead made her want to punch him again on the face. Oh, violence was a sweet thing.

"Any updates on Captain Rossing?" Anna heard Elsa ask a guard on their way to the library.

"Nothing, Your Majesty."

The queen nodded silently and joined her sister. Anna closed the door behind them, and Elsa sighed when sitting down on the couch. She had brought a couple of documents with her which she only read. There was no signing or anything. Maybe she was memorizing the names, just like Anna did before? The redhead didn't know, but sat beside her.

"You're worried about Rossing, right?" Anna said.

Elsa nodded, a frown on her face as she supported her face on her fisted hand. "Rossing has never been absent for so long before. And when he was, he notified the castle immediately whatever the reason was."

"Yesterday morning, wasn't it?"

"Yes, the time he finishes on Sundays." She exhaled and left the papers on the table. Maybe—maybe—she muttered a swear, but Elsa would always do it so quietly no one would hear her. She's a stinker.

Anna didn't know what to say. She always had some jokes available to lighten the mood but it didn't seem to be the right moment. "I remember Rossing always talked to me when I was a kid," she started, her voice unsure whether she was achieving her goal of calming down the situation or just adding more fuel to the already roaring fire. "I was—you know—amazed, really, because no one really took me seriously." She laughed to herself, looking at the floor as if it was some amazing thing. "He would always come over to the painting rooms—I miss Joan, by the way—and start greeting me, all laughs and smiles. Sometimes he'd even play along with my monologues, would you believe? It was  _amazing._  Who'd think the very Captain of the castle guard would do such thing with a seven year old?"

"He knew." Elsa's voice sounded so faint Anna didn't want to look up to see what her expression was.

"He knew  _what_?"

"My powers. He knew."

Anna's head shot upwards. "He did? Weren't just Kai and Gerda the ones knowing?" She paused to give herself time to think. "Dang, Elsa. I'm sorry. You're worrying over this man like crazy and I'm just here forcing you to remember things you  _don't want_ and telling you that I was maybe a tiny bit delusional in my youth—"

"No, it's okay. Reliving memories is necessary sometimes." She looked up to the ceiling. "He knew, Anna. Maybe you didn't know, but Father was very close to him."

 _Father_. Why did she always call him that?

"When… you know, the  _accident_ happened, a lot of people lost their jobs. You could say I was a natural disaster or something," Elsa deadpanned. Fortunately or not, this whole life situation of hers had gotten her in some evident dark humor. "Father had to give him an explanation, of course. And he trusted him enough to tell him… that. Rossing understood from what I've heard." She crossed her legs, placing her hands on her lap. "From then on, he came to the castle a lot more often. I don't know why, maybe they were just talking."

"And what are you implying with this, Elsa? You scare me."

Elsa shrugged. "I don't know. We were talking about Rossing, right? There's my two cents." She smiled a bit, but Anna could see through the mask.

"Did he talk to you?"

Elsa blinked a bit, her eyes half closed. She placed one of her elbows on the armrests, holding her chin. "Nah." The way that word came out of her mouth sent a shiver down Anna's spine. Her voice was growing cold. "I don't blame him, though. Father didn't allow it. But I don't blame Father, either. It wasn't…  _their_ fault. It was mi—"

"No, Elsa. It's not your fault," Anna interrupted with firmness before she could hear that. 'It's my fault', 'Mine', always  _her fault_ , and she was be super sure that if Elsa knew Latin she'd say 'mea culpa'. She probably did. It was a matter of time until Anna had to put up with a dead language as well. This stinker… "Elsa—seriously—It's not your fault. It's nobodies' fault—but—yeah—I tell you, our parents messed up quite a bit—but still—really, it's not your fault." She put a hand on the blonde's back, a sad smile on her face, and considered a new ramble to shut her sister's excuses up, but nothing came out of her mouth.

"I guess so," Elsa said, sighing. "You know my love-hate relationship with this ice. Sorry," she said with a nervous smile, and Anna just half-hugged her there on the couch. "For now, we should focus on the alliance," she said after a moment. "We'll see what we'll do with Rossing next."

"All righty, then!" Anna said with a radiant smile. "Need help in something?" she asked, placing an arm around her sister's shoulders.

"Not for now," Elsa replied with a smirk. "Just be ready for when  _your boyfriend_  arrives. You have a lot of updating to do."

/ / /

"Master Kristoff!"

Kristoff made his way around the courtyard looking left and right after leaving Sven on the entrance. There were servants  _everywhere_  preparing tables, chairs and all kinds of decorations. The alliance of Ewigglanz, that German kingdom full of power, he knew it was. But wasn't it tomorrow? He couldn't quite tell where the call had come from if he was being honest, so he just walked forward. He saw the fountains were not frozen, which meant that Elsa hadn't been around just yet. He dodged a couple of maids going around with—how many had Anna said— _eight thousand salad plates_ by a few inches, and finally the short, bald man who gave his acknowledgement was in front of him with his hands clasped.

"Kai. Greetings. Princess Anna was looking for me, wasn't she?"

"Yes, yes, Master Kristoff. Please follow me. Watch out for the plates."

Kristoff couldn't help but look up to the high ceiling every time he got inside the castle. The spiral staircase also proved itself to be quite the workout. The castle looked small from outside, but on the inside, there were enough rooms and halls for a tour to be an evening long. Kristoff knew this by experience.

"Princess Anna is in the library right now. She wanted to talk to you, but I don't know the details."

"Okay. I'll be going." Kristoff said while nodding.

"Do you need help getting there?" Kai sounded unsure. He had every right to be.

"No. I think I can make my way around," the blond man said as he looked back for a brief moment.

Well, at least he thought so.

/ / /

Anna had trained him, but figuring out his way in the mountains was still way easier than in that maze of a castle. He spent more time than he'd like to admit trying to reach that door; but once he was in front of the green patterns decorating it, he knew it was the library. Anna would hang out a lot there. He rubbed his neck and knocked with eagerness. Why would Anna ask for his presence with no anticipation? Most times, she'd plan ahead and say, ' _Kristoff, I need your butt here by tomorrow's morning',_  but this time—

"Hi, Kristoff."

The voice was serene, and the person who had opened the door wasn't Anna. He didn't need to wait, though, because just as he was opening his mouth to answer the queen, feisty-pants came out of thin air and tackled him into a hug. Elsa just smirked back there, holding a pile of important-looking papers under her arm.

"Elsa… told you, right?" he muttered into her ear.

"She sure did!" Anna let him go, and looked at him in the eyes.

"Well, you don't see me excited and all because I already knew. But, y'know, this is, huh, pretty great." He opened his arms with a smile and Anna giggled.

"Well, I'll have to leave you both for a bit. I have to go talk to the advisors," the queen said with a small smile. "See you later."

"Bye!"

Anna grabbed him by the arm, and they both smiled.

/ / /

"Kristoff, I can't  _believe_ you spoke to Elsa," Anna started with a hand on her chest as they walked the aisles.

"I speak to people, you know."

"I mean, the engagement thing!"

"Oh. Yes. Don't get me started on just how awkward it was," the blond mountain man said, shaking his head with a nervous smile.

"I don't need the details. Ah, Kristoff. This is gonna be so much fun." The princess looked up to the ceiling in excitement, closing her eyes.

"So… uh… what's this  _classified_  reason you were asking for me?" Kristoff asked with a smirk, nudging her shoulder.

"That's the  _fun_ thing. You see, this alliance with the Germans? Well, as our  _relationship_ is  _totally official_ now, you must take part in it. And today are the first meetings. All formal and stuff."

"Please tell me there's no party." Kristoff's voice came out more desperate than he intended it to be.

"There's gonna be one tomorrow."

Dang it.

/ / /

"Anna, had you told the messenger about this, I would've faked sick or something."

The princess had the most focused look as she tightened the poor mountain man's fancy belt. Then she looked up to him to fix the collar of the Arendellian-colored jacket she forced him to wear—those dark greens looked weird on him but it was okay either way—and when she was done, she let out a giggle and patted his shoulder affectionately. "You look gorgeous, Kristoff."

The guest room they were in would be full soon after, so Anna made sure to put it to good use.

"I know I'm very dashing, but this is scary," he said with a nervous smile, touching the fabric of his vestments with a raised eyebrow on his face. He wasn't very used to these silky royal garbs, Anna assumed, but the way he looked at them gave Anna the feeling that he had never used clothes outside of leather coats.

"Ha. Don't worry about it. It'll be super fun!"

The idea that no more nosy men would be trying to take her hand excited her to no end. With everything that had happened in that coronation—it'll be a good story to tell in the history books—most gentlemen were even too afraid to make eye contact with her sister's ice blue eyes, let alone to make the slightest hint of intention to court her. Anna thought this kind of sucked—like, when's the  _King_ coming?—but Elsa seemed to be strangely fascinated by this situation. She never got around to ask her  _why_ , but the way Elsa looked with silent disgust at the covers of romantic books gave her a few hints that maybe she wasn't very into that kind of thing. Oh, well, better for Anna!

"Anna…" Kristoff's expressions were unreadable. Maybe his ice brain was having trouble processing all that stuff. "I mean, look at me! I'm your boyfriend now! A-and I'll have to attend a meeting, and go to a party as a  _royal_ , and…" He put a hand over his face and sighed. When he removed it, though, there was a goofy smile on his lips. "This  _is_ amazing."

Anna hugged him to shut him up for good.

/ / /

Kristoff didn't know German, but Anna did her best to tell him the most important names  _she_ had memorized. Sometimes she went on a tangent and started rambling about how her sister was a complete tree trunk at dancing—Kristoff didn't laugh much, perhaps out of respect—but after some long instructions on basic royal behavior—Anna wasn't the best example but at least she tried her best—the princess remembered something important.

"Kristoff, I need your help," Anna said looking at nowhere in particular.

"What is it?"

"Someone's hiding something from Elsa, and I can't let that happen."

Kristoff raised an eyebrow. Anna inhaled deeply, and with a determined look, she threw it all out on a single breath.

"See this meeting we had with Elsa? Well, they talked about trade and stuff but Elsa had gotten the military leaders to discuss the topic of war—yes, war—you know, with this sleepless Hensarme and the Mykleguy—the damn Mykleguy—and while we were talking, the Mykleguy couldn't stop staring at this super cryptic piece of paper, and he asked whether Ewigglanz was accepting of the magic thing, and I almost started a heated argument with hints of treason but Elsa kicked me and I stopped,  _and_ ,  _and,_  I know—Elsa also knows— _the Mykleguy is hiding something and I want to know what it is, now, today._ "

She exhaled and inhaled deeply. She waved her hand in front of her face to make some air, and then looked at Kristoff in the eyes.

"Whoa. Settle down."

"Please, Kristoff. Elsa tried to make him talk, but he refused. I know… I know Elsa said to wait until the alliance was over, but still… We need to know what he's up to."

Kristoff sighed.

"Are you sure this is that big of a deal? I don't want you getting in trouble with Elsa because of this, knowing that she wouldn't… exactly…  _approve._ "

The princess shrugged, putting on an unamused look. "Kristoff,  _Elsa_  taught me how to do these kind of things when we were kids. She won't like it—that is, if she ever finds out, that we'll assure she  _won't_ —but c'mon. This is important." She inhaled and looked at the floor. She raised her head again to face her  _boyfriend,_ and said with a puppy stare: "Please."

"Fine." Kristoff didn't seem to be very pleased by the situation, but Anna got her hand into a fist and celebrated silently. " I  _guess_ we need to know. What would this require? That we talk to him?"

"Actually, I thought eavesdropping would be all the more efficient."

/ / /

"Terrible move you did back there."

Anna's frantic search through the hallways came to a halt. She was then in one of the most exclusive wings of the castle, usually reserved to the high commands of the kingdom; there was no one around. The only human figure that seemed to be watching her every movement was one of those creepy knight armors. That voice coming from a nearby room sounded devoid of life. Of course:  _Hensarme_. She signaled Kristoff with her hand to go and watch the door leading to the hallway and the blond man thankfully didn't verbally protest, he just gave one of those looks of  _'are you serious'._

"It's… ah. I just needed to bring up the topic in some way. In fact, I wanted to tell her. I just..."

Anna got closer and reduced her posture.  _Her_. The queen.  _Her sister!_ And it was the Mykleguy talking from inside a room with the door half closed.

"You are tactless, Joakim, and foolish to believe such thing."

 _Such thing?_ What thing? What the…

"Believe? Do you think this is a matter of  _belief_ , Alexander? Truth has spoken. That man is up to no good, and he's… he's coming  _here_ this afternoon! To make matters worse, Rossing is missing. Doesn't any of this sound at least  _strange_ to you?"

"The alliance is order of the queen, has been planned  _for months_  and you're in no place to end it because of some lunacy you heard. But of course: bold of me to assume you would try to listen to me on any occasion."

"You… Watch your words, youngling."

Anna put a hand over her mouth. Okay, maybe she was getting a bit too far?

"I know how to watch mine. You, on the other hand, couldn't keep your mouth shut in a meeting. Go spread conspiracies elsewhere. I won't be there to hear them."

A few footsteps. Myklebust groaned. She heard a faint whisper from behind, "Anna!", and she looked back to see Kristoff motioning her to come back.

"Believe what you want, Alexander. I won't trust those Ewigers… and I won't hesitate to raise my sword should they prove a threat."

Anna gazed back and forth with her brow furrowed and gritted teeth. She knew she had to get back to Kristoff, but—God—these men were talking about swords and conspiracies and sounded as if they were ready to start a fistfight right there on the spot.

"I don't think you are saying the right words, Joakim."

"You'll remember my words when the Trojan horse Limsbane is hiding in finally reveals what's inside."

_Limsbane?_

Anna had memorized the names for the meeting, and…

Yes.

Artur Limsbane, she remembered.

/ / /

 _Enough_.

She scurried down the aisles—thank the heavens the door creaked open  _after_  she had left—and reached a very bewildered Kristoff. And, eventually, a very serious Elsa.

Kristoff opened his mouth in advance—Anna also did—but Elsa beat them to it. She wasn't carrying anything anymore; she approached with calm on his face, but the judging look was there, always so slight.

"What are you doing here?"

"Nothing! Just for a walk while I told Kristoff what he had to do for the meeting 'n stuff," Anna said with a helpless grin, holding Kristoff's arm. "Now, question is, what are  _you_ doing here?"

Elsa let silence sink in before responding. "I'm looking for Hensarme." Her voice was soft.

Well, what a coincidence. Hensarme was everything those days. Now,  _why_? Hadn't she spoken to him already? Anna had a lot to take in—it was getting harder and harder to process what Mykleguy had said back there and she wasn't sure she would ever understand it—so she just awkwardly nodded to her sister while dramatically grabbing Kristoff by the arm and starting to move away. "Well… He might be, like, there, in that room," she motioned, "but I haven't seen him. I'm gonna, uh, get some snacks and visit Olaf! Yeah, I haven't seen Olaf today. Weird. Bye-bye!"

"…Bye?"

As soon as her sister was out of line of sight, Anna put a hand on her open mouth and stared at Kristoff.

"You were right," Kristoff said with a nod as they walked. "That was something we  _needed_ to know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll just tell you again, watch out. If things go as planned, next chapter will bring the nuke.  
> So have fun!


	4. IV

"Did you hear what he said? Trojan horse.  _Trojan horse!_ " Anna put her hands on her braids as she scurried down the hallways with Kristoff. "And… some  _Limsbane_ … he was on the guest list, I swear!"

"Anna, you can't hide this from Elsa now."

"Well, I…" she inhaled deeply. "She'sgoingtokillme." She giggled nervously and let out a squeak. Oh no, oh no. Some things were better left uncovered, and this was one of those things. "You see, she's not exactly fond of these kind of things. I've done it before… and uh…"

"She might not be, but she  _needs_ to know this, feisty pants. This man was talking as if she could be in danger. 'Trojan horse' are bold, bold words."

"Bold, bold words!"

It came from within a room. The painting room. That's where Anna was taking Kristoff—it was always empty, people had no taste for art, and it was a nice place to reflect and rethink life choices. But she hesitated for once. She looked at Kristoff. The man gave her one of those 'I know' unamused looks. She knew as well. They'd hope he wasn't being a spy for the queen or something along the lines of it. After a sigh, she brought a hand to the doorknob and opened it.

"What does 'bold' mean, anyway?"

"Olaf. Haven't seen you for a while, little friend." Anna knelt and hugged the snowman. "Please, what you hear now with us.  _Please don't tell anybody, all right_?"

"Oh. Secrets. I like secrets!" He jumped in joy and walked to the floor-patterned couch just below Anna's favorite hero, Joan. He sat on it and tapped the place beside him with a huge smile. "Let me hear it. I'm all ears!" He motioned with his twigs to the empty sides of his head. "Okay, maybe not, but still!"

"Oookay…" The redhead closed the door and made her way to her seat. Oh, Joan. She was going to hear it too. But she knew Joan was a friend who knew how to keep her mouth shut.

"Do you remember what that Limsbane guy was?" Kristoff said, sitting beside her and straightening his vest.

Anna shook her head and frowned. She had memorized only the names, it's not like she was an open archive. "No. It's written in Elsa's paper, though." She scratched her head. "Hensarme… didn't believe anything, though. And  _I_  can't believe that now I'm in the Mykleguy's side after low-key telling Elsa he was a traitor," she said with a nervous look. Olaf looked at her excitedly, and she just buried her head in her hands.

"Settle down." Kristoff put a gentle hand on her shoulder, and she looked up again with her 'I messed up' face. "Your sister's talking to Hensarme now, right?"

"Well, yes, but—"

"When she's done, tell her  _all_ of it," he said with a cautious look.

"Kristoff! You suck at advising!"

"Anna. These people talked about raising swords. The thing they were talking about—whatever it was—was so unspeakable, Myklebust couldn't bring himself to tell it to Elsa! And you heard the beating Hensarme gave Myklebust to just making the slightest mention of it in the meeting."

Anna nodded. Kristoff was right, of course, but it was Elsa's reaction what scared her the most. There was a  _public international event_ , and, well, she didn't want to admit it, but Elsa was really bad at them already—put some hints of regicide in it and  _poof!_  The recipe to an icy freakout. "Hensarme knows Elsa well. He doesn't want her knowing, which I think just strengthens all of this, even if he doesn't exactly believe it." She got up with a determined look and patted Olaf on the head for self-reassurance. "That's it. I'm gonna tell her, whatever it takes. Be it I earn a kick or a 'thank you for telling me, dear sister'. That's it!"

"Does Elsa  _hit_ you?" When Anna looked behind her, Kristoff looked bewildered and quite worried.

"No, but she kicked me today. Told you already! She must be feeling bad it's Monday. The Monday blues are—heh—strong here." She opened the tall door and pointed to the couch. "You stay with Olaf! I'll be back."

Last thing she saw before scurrying down the hallways was Kristoff's smug smile. Oh, her life was full of stinkers.

/ / /

Elsa. Yes. She knew where she was. She turned left and right around the long aisles. It was okay, it was okay to tell her everything—the information hadn't been gathered in a very noble way, to be honest with herself—but Elsa would understand. Would she? She was unsettled and her walking made it clear. The servants striding through gave her a look. She wasn't very good at hiding her expressions.  _Trojan horse_ , Myklebust's distrust of the Ewigers and Hensarme's disbelief. What the hell was going on? What was in that damned paper?

She reached the door and knocked. No, she didn't use the signature knock. That's only for Elsa's door.

But no one answered. She frowned.

"Your Highness, may I help you?" It was a guard. He wasn't there before.

"Uh… do you happen to know where Queen Elsa is?"

"She left, Your Highness. I do not have the information where."

Anna's eyes widened, but she nodded. "O-okay! Thank you!"

She didn't even want to pretend she wasn't freaked out when she ran up the stairs to the balcony. That room Elsa always went around—Agdar's painting was there—she opened the windows to a beautiful summer day and looked down.

Leaving the courtyard, there she was making her way through the crowded bridge to the city; the large purple cape with ice details following her everywhere, and the people who escorted her: Hensarme, Myklebust, and other armed men she didn't know. Guards. And was that… a woman, beside her? An old, short woman with brown hair and a long traditional dress. She wouldn't recognize anybody else; a view from a balcony would only reveal so much.

"Aw, come on!" Anna put her hand into a fist and gritted her teeth with worry. She grabbed the handrail and lowered her head. "Why  _now_ …?"

/ / /

"I-I came home, Your Majesty, and the doors were closed shut!"

That lump in her stomach… Maybe this was the only way of getting rid of it. Shortly after leaving Anna and Kristoff she got the news; Rossing's wife, Nadia, couldn't enter her own home after coming back from a visit to one of her relatives. The woman ran to the castle for help—this kind of help was always offered as Rossing was a high command in Arendelle—and here they were coming back with guards, lock picks and axes to try and make sense out of the situation and hopefully get a clue or two. Elsa wasn't exactly needed, but she wanted to see with her own eyes  _what_ was happening and make decisions from there. There were still a couple of hours to the alliance, and even though she had told Anna to leave the topic for later, she couldn't help herself.

"Then Rossing disappeared when he was alone, correct?" Hensarme said.

The skies were maybe too peaceful for a disaster like that to be happening; the sun was shining with strength. The townspeople minded their own business but never hesitated to bow before the queen. Most of them had confused looks on their faces—Elsa didn't blame them. Anna was the one they usually had the pleasure to run into, not her. She didn't come out of the castle very often, and it was even rarer to see her  _without_ her sister and with armed men around her. Not that they were really  _that_ necessary, but she needed to make the strongest image of herself. A captain had disappeared, and who knows if someone out there would want the queen dissipate as well?

"Yes, yes. I spent a couple of days out of the house. I just came and… he's nowhere! Not even the neighbors saw him and he didn't tell me anything he would leave. He would've told me, had that been the case… He's not the kind of man to disappear like that!" Her brow was furrowed in concern, Elsa could tell.

Elsa nodded firmly at the petite woman. "If we do not find him inside, we will be sending guards to look for him now that we know this was not planned in any way on his part."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. This way," she said, leading the way around the alleys in the town. They walked past shops, parks; little kids laughing on the colorful streets and playing tag. Couples talking, sitting on benches; old women selling fruit on the fairs; fathers and sons fishing on the pier. Everything seemed so… oddly okay. Maybe everything  _was_ okay and she was just making things up? Maybe Rossing just drank too much on the weekend? Maybe Myklebust was just a little afraid of her magic just like everyone else? He was behind her, the strange man. If people just kept less secrets and talked to each other a bit more… To be fair with herself, she wasn't much of an example to follow in that matter, Elsa thought.

"Here," Nadia said, stopping before a wooden door. The house had a traditional architecture and could very well blend in with any other home in the Arendellian town; high colorful roofs and small windows on the front. It was a bit further from the center, and although there were houses around, this one was more isolated comparing it to the rest.

"Larsen, open the door," Hensarme commanded, a hand on his sword's handle tied to his belt.

"All right, I'm on it." The green-wearing guard got a few instruments from his pocket and kneeled before the door. "The lock's broken."

Nadia sighed. "I can't believe this happened. I can't believe…"

"Do not worry, miss. We will sort this situation out," Myklebust said with a determined look, stepping forward while the guard worked on the lock.

Elsa couldn't help but glare at the man, placing her hands behind her back and straightening her posture. Maybe Anna was right? Maybe he  _was_ hiding something dangerous?

"You, go see surroundings," the General told another guard, motioning him to the sides of the house.

Something didn't feel right. Something  _didn't_ feel right, but Elsa couldn't point out what. After what felt like hours, the warden opened the creaking door and the five entered; the first was the living room. A table, a couple of couches and chairs with a bright wooden floor and green toned walls. Nadia looked terrified, her brow furrowed. But Elsa's feelings were proved right when she saw the shards of broken plates on the kitchen table. The pain in her stomach was driving her crazy already, and Rossing's house hadn't been kind.

"Broken," she muttered, stroking a finger around the pointy bits of what remained of a porcelain vase. She felt the magic inside of her, it wanted to break out; but it was different this time.

"Windows are intact, though," Myklebust said.

Elsa looked back and saw Hensarme inspect the corners of the room. There was a cupboard he was rummaging, but he looked back with a serious look. "It is probably not a break in. Aside from the kitchen, everything looks normal. Objects tidy and in sight. Isn't it right, Miss Rossing?"

Nadia got up shakily from the chair she had been sitting on, her eyes partly closed. "Y-yes… I just…"

Elsa scurried and caught her arm before she could fall. Thank heavens having ice powers had given her lightning-fast reflexes. "Miss Rossing, are you all right?" she said, concern showing in her voice, supporting her and getting ahold of both of her shoulders. Myklebust looked at the hunched woman and then at the queen with a nervous look; Elsa nodded silently, telling him wordlessly she could handle the situation.

"A bit dizzy… Your-Your Majesty, I'm sorry!" The woman seemed to slowly regain her balance with the royal's help.

"It's okay." The queen was so unfocused a contraction slipped in her speech. Her eyes were darting around the room aimlessly as she held Nadia's elbows. Something felt so strange. So, so strange. The maddening silence buzzed in her ears. Was it her magic trying to tell her something?

"Larsen. Did you see something there?" Hensarme said to the guard looking around the remaining rooms.

"Nothing."

"Then this room is the last one to see," the General said, placing both of his hands on his hips and looking at the white painted door in front of him. "Locked. Come over here, Larsen."

Her heart beat hard beneath her chest. She was nervous, yes—maybe not as much as Rossing's wife who couldn't stand by herself—but this was a whole new feeling. An intangible feeling of  _wrong_  she had never felt before.

"That room… Osvald's room," Nadia started with a weak voice, still being held by the queen, "It doesn't have a lock."

/ / /

"It… it doesn't?" Myklebust sounded perplexed. "It cannot be opened. Must be stuck with something on the inside."

"Just bring the axes i-if it's necessary," Nadia said with her eyes half closed.

"Do you want to sit down, Miss Rossing?"

"Yes, please. I can't… thank you enough, Your Majesty."

As she helped the poor worried woman sit on the couch—it must bring a new level of terror to be held by the Snow Queen as well—Elsa eyed the other guards get their axes. Okay, she  _was_ also terrified. Thankfully, she had learned to keep her powers in relative control. As far as she knew the chill was almost unnoticeable at the moment.

"Osvald…"

His wife was lost. Poor Nadia. But it didn't seem that bad, right? Just a couple of broken plates… Could've been an accident, and Rossing could've forgotten to tell her he was going away.

_Right?_

But the door.

The sound of wood creaking made a chill go down her spine. One time. Twice. A third hit from one of the guards. She got closer. Maybe it was instinct. And after what felt like eternity, Hensarme gave the last push with his shoulder and the door opened abruptly.

What was inside made them all gasp.

/ / /

The bed. The bed, it was frozen over. The table beside it was destroyed; the candles all splattered on the floor, there was frost  _all over the damn floor_ , the paintings once decorating the walls stood there, half frozen, half torn. The walls had traces of ice on them; and blood. Traces of crimson red liquid all around the room as if they had dragged him around like a dying animal. Broken portraits, glass, or was it only more ice? Difficult to tell with such little light. On the corner, ice spikes.  _Pointy, sharp ice spikes_. Fractured icicles on the bed. Frozen sheets coated with blood.

"Heavens above." That was Myklebust's voice, so faint.

And his sword. Rossing's sword was on the floor among the ice, clean and neat. Untouched.

Nobody seemed to dare to open their mouths, but Elsa could feel it—after their eyes danced through the disaster in front of them, they were all fixed on a single place.

_Her_.

She remained motionless. Her hands were fists.

And burning, freezing cold anger.

/ / /

"Your Majesty…" The queen heard Myklebust take a few steps forward from behind her.

"That was not me," she said through gritted teeth.

Fury. A rage she had never felt before. It was otherworldly. It was thirst. Her brow furrowed and her eyes narrowed.

Rossing didn't put up much of a fight. His sword was proof. Whoever it was—whatever it was—that God-forsaken twisted being,  _they were mocking her_. Laughing in front of her face. Taunting her with their index finger. Her magic warned her—she didn't know this kind of warning. It felt like a slap on the face. As if someone had slapped her  _on the face_ , and it hurt, and it was throbbing hot on her cheek, pulsating with pain…

"That was not me."

She felt the tears forming on her eyes.

Whoever it was, they had achieved their purpose.

Have the queen collapsed on the floor with her eyes dampened out of fear and rage, just like a helpless child.

/ / /

/&/

Running on the cobbled streets; hers was a free spirit. No one really understood the color of her hair—her mother was black-haired—but whatever! It wasn't something that mattered after all. Playing around with flowers, feeling the fresh air around her; that's all that mattered. Her little white dress flew behind her. She was uncatchable! Sandals weren't that great for running, sure, but nobody else could ever top her. Not even the bigger kids!

"Laure!"

Oh no. Dead end. Dead end! Bricked walls incoming!

She gazed back over her shoulder. Her friend was coming like crazy. She couldn't let him catch her, of course not.

Just turn at the right moment…

" _Je vais t'attraper, Laure!"_

Any moment now, she was going to make it, of—

Pain.

She let out a squeak as she stopped there in her tracks.

"L-Laure?"

So much pain in her little shoulders. Burning, burning pain,  _what was it_? She touched them—she put a hand over them—but it did nothing but worsen the ache.  _What was it_?

_What was it?_  She could feel the cold floor under her legs when she knelt.

" _Est ce que ça va?_ "

_What was it?_

So much pain. It was like fire.  _Make it stop!_

She let out a whimper. She felt the boy put a hand on her back. It was unsure.

Laure didn't understand it, but she knew it, deep in her heart; she was being abandoned, left for someone else, and it felt so bad and unknown and painful that she wept.

/&/

/ / /

"We know, Your Majesty."

She bit her lip. She bit the fear. Fear and anger. What a dangerous mix. She closed her eyes shut and slowly got up. The weight on her shoulders; her legs shook, it felt so wrong, it all felt so wrong, she hadn't done that, but what if she  _really really did_ —

"Osvald Rossing was kidnapped by an ice wielder." Her voice came out raspy out of her throat; it almost hurt.

"We know, Your Majesty. We know it wasn't you."

She turned around and faced the bewildered men. Hensarme's expression was even grimmer; Myklebust looked genuinely sorry. They bowed before her.

"It wasn't you, Your Majesty. We know it."

The Larsen lock pick boy tried to run away, but Myklebust held him in his place by grabbing him by the collar of his coat.

"Whoever it was," the queen started, "I want them shackled in the coldest and deepest castle dungeon, just like I was in my coronation."

/ / /

One hour to the meeting.

"Man, she's taking her time," Anna said, throwing her arms up dramatically while lying on the couch next to Kristoff. "I was  _so_ ready to tell her."

"Well, but now you can practice," Olaf said with the biggest smile. "Let's see. I  _am_ Elsa." He jumped to the floor and moved his twigs. He inhaled gracefully—somehow—and started: " _Hello, Anna. What did you want to tell me?_ "

Kristoff chuckled and crossed his arms. "Elsa doesn't talk like that."

"I'm doing my best!"

Anna took in the air around her. One, two, three, go. "Okay. You see. I  _kind of_ overheard a conversation when you found me in those aisles and…"

"Oh,  _fantastic!_ "

The redhead growled and covered her face with a hand. "Elsa wouldn't say that!"

"But I'm doing my best!"

"Forget the Elsa roleplay. Just say what you would tell her. I'll let you know if it's good enough," Kristoff said.

"Okay! Gosh, this is so difficult." She cleared her throat and opened her mouth again. "You see, I  _kind of_ —"

"Your Highness. Sorry for interrupting you, but your sister is back," Kai announced, leaning out from the door.

Anna gritted her teeth. So soon? Wait, she was complaining she was taking too long. What was going on with her mind?

She got up with a nervous smile. "Wish me luck," she muttered. "I'm going, Kai!"

/ / /

The aisles.  _Again._ Where was Kai taking her? She had spent, like,  _half_ her day walking around the hallways. Where did she go?

"She came directly to her room," Kai explained quietly before the wooden white door with blue decorations.

Anna widened her eyes. "What?"

"I don't know, Princess. Maybe she's getting ready for the meeting."

"She already did. I think."

"Oh. Well, then I don't know." He shrugged. "Okay. See you later, Your Highness."

Kai left. She was alone in front of Elsa's room.

/ / /

She gulped and used her signature knock.

_Toc toctoctoc toc_

The silence remained. For five, ten seconds. And on the fourteenth—yes, Anna counted them—she heard a few sounds. "Come in," said a muffled voice coming from the inside. Anna sighed in relief as she turned the doorknob. Couldn't be that bad, right? At least she answered—it was already more successful than ninety percent of her past attempts—

"Elsa."

Her sister had her back turned to her. She was there, hunched and sitting on her desk, supporting her head with her left hand. And it was cold when she entered—it was getting warmer, though. Her room was as tidy as always, but something felt off.

"Hey, Anna."

Anna thought before talking. "Hey. Why are you here?" She said, getting closer and putting a hand on her shoulder.

Elsa exhaled. "Just… preparing the last things."

"I don't think you're preparing anything with that empty paper, Elsa." She stroked her back. "Is something wrong?" she said, lowering her head and keeping her voice soft. She massaged her sister's shoulders a bit—she didn't like to admit it, but she  _loved it_ —and waited.

After seconds of silence, Elsa broke it, growling and burying her face in her hands. What was going on? She had woken up okay, it's not like anything had happened. She gave her the news on the engagement; she joked around and was a complete stinker. Rossing's situation had the both of them a bit unsettled—Anna was far more unsettled by what she had heard— _What was wrong?_

"Fine."

"W-what?"

"I'll tell you."

/ / /

Each of Elsa's words had a weight to them. She had gotten up at first, then she sat on the bed. Nadia, yes, the guards… but what happened? Anna looked at her with worry in her eyes, and when she delivered that final sentence…

"We went inside his room, and everything was frozen over, all bloody, and—"

The redhead didn't have a second thought. She wrapped her sister into a hug. "It wasn't you, Elsa. Of course not."

"You don't understand." Her sister pulled back.

"Wait, what?"

"There's… there's a beast out there—and he—she, I don't even care—they've got Rossing. And they're probably thrashing him around with ice, as if he was some kind of broken toy."

Anna slowly let go of Elsa with her mouth open in disbelief.

"And I got so angry, Anna, I almost lashed out." She shook her head and closed her eyes. "I don't remember a moment I was as angry as then—maybe at my ice castle that one time."

Silence.

"Thank you."

"For what?" Elsa's voice apparently came out of her voice far more harshly than she intended, because she looked regretful as soon as the words escaped out of her lips. Anna just smiled at her reassuringly and put a hand on her arm, rubbing it gently.

"For telling me. We're gonna do this together, okay? And whoever that brain-frozen idiot is, we're going to find her. Yeah, I have a feeling it's a she."

"Brain-frozen idiot…" Elsa chuckled dryly. "Oh, Anna, I didn't even want to laugh now."

" _She_ 'll get what she deserves. That  _monster_ ; don't worry."

Elsa nodded with that weak sarcastic smile Anna hated. She had said something wrong, she sensed it.  _Monster_. Oh no, no, no she messed up. She opened her mouth—she was trying to fix it—but Elsa spoke first, and she didn't dare to interrupt her.

"Is that what people thought of me in the coronation?"

"No, Elsa, I didn't mean that,  _of course I_ —"

She got up. "That I was a vicious monster to be found and put down. Yes, it is."

"Shut up, Elsa! We're not talking about the same person!"

"Maybe I'm the same type of fi—"

"You didn't  _maul a man around up to the point to make him bleed_ , Elsa! Yours was an accident. This one, on the other hand, was an act of pure evil. Stop saying nonsense!" Anna got up as well and grabbed her wrist. The queen exhaled heavily under her grip. She looked  _tired_ , she was cold to the touch, and every time she opened her eyes Anna could sense her anger as if she was going to snap at her at any moment; and then she understood. At least a bit of it.

Elsa saw herself in the attacker. Everyone saw Elsa in the attacker. Anna would believe it in a heartbeat—of course—but what did the others think? An ice wielder. She seemed to be the only ice wielder in the entirety of Europe. And she walked—she walked to that hideous scene and she saw it. She was the first to see it. Ice, everywhere. Blood. Gosh, it must've been terrible.  _What did the others think_? Did they believe her? Elsa didn't give details, only the bare minimum, and that was  _why_ all of that was being so hard.

She went for a hug again, but this time she didn't let go, and Elsa didn't fight back and sank into her embrace.

"It's all gonna be okay, all right? We're gonna find out who did this, we're gonna find Rossing and the alliance's going to go all right."

And  _about that…_  Ugh…

"Also, let's just pretend it was a man who did it, okay?"

/ / /

Elsa looked a bit brighter after the long hug. Thank heavens.

"Okay, you see," she started, cautiously, "I  _kind of_ overheard…"

"Your Majesty! The Ewiger's ships are on sight!" It was Kai's voice from outside the door. "They came sooner than expected."

"Are you kidding me?" Anna muttered under her breath as Elsa motioned her to come out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, this is the part where I laugh with pure evil, right? I'm sorry. I might have or might not have created an abomination. Excuse my inexistent French; blame Google Translate if anything's wrong, lol. Please let me know! I don't know a word in French. I can handle Spanish fine and German halfway fine, but French's out of my hands.
> 
> Also, be aware the /&/ brackets means that the scene in between happened somewhere in the past. Kinda like a flashback.
> 
> Have fun! ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to The Unshaken. This is a story I've been wanting to write forever, and, welp, it's finally here. Please point out any grammar mistake you find as I'm not a native speaker.
> 
> I have a couple of chapters already written and I will publish them when I manage to write some new ones. There'll be fantasy, adventure, and a lot of magical drama ;)
> 
> I hope you have fun!


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